Core77

Here's an interesting one out of the SolidWorks press department, Factory Five Racing is using SolidWorks to design racing car kits that make 'hobbyists' dreams come true.' The company manufactures replica car kits, from Cobra to Ferraris as well as their own street-legal super-car kit. According to the release, Factory Five Racing has cut development time and costs in half with SolidWorks used in the design process, while Cosmos provides analysis.

Factory Five has cut the development time of its tube frames in half because SolidWorks allows engineers to share designs directly with fabricators. These fabricators use the designs to guide laser cutting machines that cut all of the frame parts, including the tubes and jigs (the devices used to hold the frames in place). Previously, fabricators had to interpret Factory Five drawings and manufacture the frame assemblies by hand, increasing the potential for errors.

Factory Five uses the COSMOSXpress design analysis tool (that's stuffed into SolidWorks--for free) to test how parts such as the suspension brackets will stand up to use. The company also uses the eDrawings e-mail-enabled design communication tool to share parts models with suppliers and further ensure accuracy.

I guess this raises an interesting question. These guys are taking existing design classics for the most part, adapting those exterior forms to more modern chassis and powertrain set-ups from other systems. And making products available at lower cost--but what about the intellectual property inherent in the car models they are replicating? What is that process called? Is it design? Is it adaptation? My best guess is that it's fulfilling a market need--what ever the morals are of the process. After all, the AC Cobra was a British design and British built, shipped out to Shelby who retrofitted the engines, so perhaps what Factory Five and the plethora of other clone manufacturers are doing is just in the best traditions.